Since the creation of Ogun State some forty years ago, the people of Ogun West Senatorial district have not had the opportunity of occupying the governorship seat. The closest was Alhaja Salimot Badru who was the Deputy Governor of Gbenga Daniel. Other deliberate efforts to clinch the coveted position have always been thwarted by political forces from within and outside the senatorial district, some of the political gladiators readily sold their conscience to betray our collective agenda repeatedly and the most unfortunate ‘fact’ is that our people are far too divided beyond unification, forgetting that it is the agreement and interconnectedness of parts that makes the whole to move in unison. The classical case of Olurin, Odunsi and Gboyega Nasiru Isiaka readily comes to mind.
The people of Ogun West are divided along fault lines and this account for why the other senatorial districts find it easy to use our division to their own advantage. For the agenda not to be hijacked by the political elements whose ideas are in dissonance / variance with our collective aspirations as a people, we must all be consciously interested in participating fully in the decision process that will lead to producing our representative for the Oke-Mosan seat. We have gotten to the stage where we can no longer pretend that all is well and the agenda is so loud beyond keeping quiet, it is an idea whose time has come. This article won’t go into details of those political actors that have so far shown interest to become the Governor of Ogun State come 2019 in order not to defeat the essence of this write-up but so many questions beg for answers here: What new things are they bringing to the table? Are they matured enough to collapse their individual aspirations for the collective good of all and sundry? Who is that candidate that best represent our collective interest? Who shall the gods of Ogun politics be pleased with? Are we going to carry on the agenda the same way it has always been done and expect a different result or are we going to make it more encompassing? Are we going to consult far and wide? Who is that man that would be collectively acceptable across board? Who is that candidate that can meet and surpass the ‘Ogun standard’ of Governor Ibikunle Amosun?
The first rule of war is to know your enemy. Perhaps, I won’t be wrong if I conclude that our major political ‘enemies’ are people from within, these are the people that forget that in politics, a man that finds trouble for others, finds trouble for himself too. We must find a way to separate the selfless from the selfish, the opportunist should be sieved out and our political gladiators within the senatorial district must begin a deliberate effort to unite the different political interest groups within the region and beyond bearing in mind that a chain is as strong as its weakest point. 2019 is no longer far, we must start the journey now and be very cautious when dealing with ‘emergency politicians’ whose only agenda is to use our collective platform to achieve their individual hidden agenda at the detriment of our collective good. That we have come this far is an indication that we can go farther.
Written by Oyede Saheed, also known as High Chief Humanbeing is the P.R.O of Awori Intellectuals.
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